A purported notice (here, here, here, and here) issued in the name of the University Grants Commission (UGC)is going viral, claiming that the commission has cancelled all examinations due to a ‘war-like situation’ in the country and has advised students to return home. Through this article, let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has cancelled all examinations due to a ‘war-like situation’ in the country and has advised students to return home in a May 2025 notice.
Fact: This viral notice claiming that the UGC has cancelled examinations due to ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan is fabricated. On 07 May 2025, the UGC clarified in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the notice is fake and that no such directions were issued by the Commission. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the authenticity of the viral notice, we visited the official website of the UGC. However, we did not find any such notice issued by the Commission. We then conducted a relevant keyword search, but found no reports suggesting that the UGC had cancelled all examinations due to a ‘war-like situation’ in the country or had advised students to return home.
Upon closely examining the viral notice and comparing it with recent official notices and circulars released by the UGC (here, here, here), we identified several discrepancies (such as inconsistencies in the letterhead, the issuing officer’s name, designation, and signature) which strongly suggest that the notice is fabricated.
It is important to note that the UGC does not have positions such as Pro-Chancellor or Chancellor. The UGC comprises a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and other secretaries. Typically, all official notices and circulars are issued in the name of the Secretary. Currently, Prof. Manish R. Joshi serves as the Secretary of the UGC.
The viral circular was issued in the name of Rashmi Mittal, who was identified as a Pro-Chancellor. However, no such post exists within the UGC. Upon verification, we found that Rashmi Mittal is the Pro-Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, located in Jalandhar, Punjab.
Furthermore, on 07 May 2025, the UGC clarified in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the notice is fake, and no such directions had been issued by the Commission. The post reads:“A fabricated public notice is being circulated under the name of UGC, claiming that all exams are cancelled due to a war situation and advising students to return home. UGC confirms this notice is fake. There are no such directions from UGC.”
To sum it up, this viral notice claiming that the UGC has cancelled examinations due to ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan is fabricated.
